Protecting device.



M. G. KENNEDY.

PROTECTING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 22, 1910.

999,231 Patented Aug. 1,1911.

wnmassesQ I INVENTOR W fig? ATTORNEYS cdLUMBIA PLANMRAPH c0 WASHINGTON,B. c,

DNTT SAT PROTECTING DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 1, 1911.

Application filed August 22, 1910. Serial No. 578,326.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MATTHEW Gr. KEN- NEDY, of Syracuse, in the county ofOnondaga and State of New York, have invented acertain new and usefulProtecting Device, of which the following is a specification.

My invention aims to provide a device for preventing unauthorized accessbeing had, without visually indicating the same, to a nut, or the likepart, employed for retaining in place a member which is not to beremoved or shifted save by an authorized person.

The invention is primarily intended for protecting the cover retainingdevices of electric meters, which devices must be manipulated in orderto remove or shift the meter cover so as to adjust or otherwise alterthe meter mechanism, but the protecting device may be used to advantagein many other situations.

The object of the invention is to provide a protecting device which isparticularly simple in construction and very eflicacious in use.

One exemplification of my invention is illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings wherein Figure 1 shows two of the devices applied to the coverretaining nuts of a common form of electrical meter, one of the devicesbeing shown in side elevations, and the other in vertical section. Fig.2 is an elevation of the cap of the devices. Fig. 3 is a plan view ofthe same. Fig. 4: is an elevation of the guiding collar for the cap.Fig. 5 is a plan view thereof. Fig. 6 is a plan view of the blank out ofwhich the locking member is formed. Fig. 7 is an edge view showing thelocking member associated with the nut. Fig. 8 is a view of the sameparts at a quarter turn from Fig. 7

The invention includes generally an inclosing casing or cap, a lockingmember for holding the casing or cap in position, and a destructiblesealing member held in place by the cap, and closing an opening thereinthrough which, when said sealing member is destroyed, access may be hadto the parts in closed within the cap.

In the accompanying drawings a fragment of a conventional form of metercasing is shown at A, the same including a cover B, which is retained inplace by nuts C, threaded on bolts D, projecting through openings in thecover.

The cap of each protecting device is designated 1, and preferablyincludes a cylindrical neck 2, provided with one or more verticallydisposed grooves 3, and a head 4, having an axial opening 5 in the topthereof and I provided with an annular shoulder 6. The

cap is preferably guided on a collar 7, which is arranged concentricallyof the bolt D, and

is provided with one, or more, ribs 8 cooperating with the grooves 3 forpreventing the rotation of the cap. The collar 7 may be rigidly attachedto the cover B in any desired manner, as by providing lugs 8 on itslower edge which pass through openings in the cover and are headed up,or clenched against, the inner face thereof.

The locking member preferably includes a pair of arms 9 extendingupwardly from the nut C, and secured at their lower ends thereto, so asto be incapable of rotation about the bolt independently thereof. Wings10 extend downwardly and outwardly from the arms 9, and when the latterare separated, or occupy their outward position the ends of these wingsare located directly over, or in the path of, the shoulder 6 of the cap1.

The locking member is preferably formed from a sheet metal strip havingan intermediate portion 11 embracing the under face of the nut C, andprovided with an opening 12 registering with the threaded opening insuch nut, integral wings 13 embracing opposite sides of the nut andhaving their marginal edge portions turned over the upper edges of thesame, and the arms 9 embracing the remaining sides of the nut, andextending a distance above the upper face thereof, and terminating inhorizontal portions 14 extending toward each other, and each providedwith an opening 15. The horizontal parts 14: are preferably disposed outof alinement with each other, or in different vertical planes, so thatthe major portions of said arms may more closely approach each otherthan would be the case if the parts 14;, were in alinement.

The wings 10 are preferably bent out of intermediate portions of thearms 9. The entire locking member may be formed from 'a flat sheet metalblank of the general shape illustrated in Fig. 6.

The sealing member is provided with a stem 16 coacting with the openings15 for holding separated the arms 9 with the wings 10 in positions tointerlock with the shoulder 6, with a flange 17 disposed between thehorizontal portions 14: of the locking member and the top on the capadjacent the opening 5, and coacting with the cap for preventinglongitudinal axial movement of said member, or the removal thereofintact through the opening 5, and with the head portion 18 whichprojects through the opening 5, and cooperates with the wall of thelatter for preventing lateral displacement of the flange 17 andcooperates with the latter for effectually closing the opening 5 againstthe insertion of any sort of an instrument which might be used fortampering with the locking member.

The entire sealing member may be made of fragile material, but ifdesired only the head portion 18 need be of such material. By providingan annular space between the side Wall of the head 18 and the peripheryof the stem 16 the head may be readily fractured by a sharp blow, or bycompressing the same between the jaws of a pair of pliers,

In applying the protector, the collar 7 is first attached to the coverB. The latter is then closed and the nut C, having the locking memberassociated with it, is then screwed upon the bolt D. The arms 9 are thenseparated and the parts 14 are forced into alinement so as to registerthe openings 15 and then the stem 16 of the sealing memher is insertedin said openings 15 for holding the arms apart and finally the cap 1 isforced down in place. In this operation the wings 10 are forced inwardlyby the neck'2, but spring outwardly again immediately and the shoulder 6passes beyond their inner edges, and in the final movement of the capthe top thereof engages the flange 17 and serves to hold the sealingmember in place.

In order to remove the cover of a meter equipped with the describedprotecting device, access must be had to the nut G, and this can beobtained only by breaking the sealing member, whereupon the stem 16thereof may be removed and the arms 9 of the locking device willthereupon move toward each other, or may be forced toward each other,until the wings 10 are shifted out of interlocking relation with theshoulder 6, thus permitting the cap to be removed, and the nut C,unscrewed from the bolt. After the sealing device is broken the nut C,might be removed from the bolt by inserting a suitable tool in theopening 5, and unscrewing the nut by engaging the tool with the lockingmember, but whatever method is used for unscrewing the nut, it involvesthe breaking of the sealing member, and consequently after this is donethe parts can only be restored to their original condition by the use ofa duplicate sealing device. As these sealing devices cannot be obtainedby one not authorized-t0 remove the meter cover, any unauthorizedtampering with the cover securing means involving the breaking of theseal would at once be made apparent by the absence of this element. t

What I claim is 1. In a meter protector, a locking member associatedwith the meter cover retaining nut, a cap inclosing the locking memberand provided with a shoulder, cooperating with such member, and with anopening giving access to the same, and a sealing member closing suchopening, and provided with a part cooperating with the locking member,substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. In a protecting device, a cap having an internal shoulder, and anopening in its head, a locking member inclosed within the cap and havinga part cooperating with the shoulder thereof, and a sealing memberhaving a part cooperating with the locking member, a part cooperatingwith the cap for preventing longitudinal axial movement of the sealingmember, and another part cooperating with the cap for preventing lateralmovement of the sealing member, substantially as and for the purposespecified.

8. The combination with a cover, a bolt extending therethrough, and anut threaded on the bolt, of a collar secured to the cover concentricwith the bolt, a cap having a neck portion, guided on the collar, and anenlarged head portion forming an annular shoulder, and a locking memberassociated with the nut and having a part cooperating with said internalshoulder of the cap, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

4. The combination with a cover, a bolt extending therethrough, and anut threaded on the bolt, of a collar secured to the cover concentricwith the bolt, and having a lengthwisely extending rib, a cap having aneck portion guided on the collar and provided with a groove cooperatingwith said rib, a shoulder located within the cap, and a locking memberengaging the nut and having a part cooperating with said shoulder,substantially as and for the purpose described.

5. The combination with a cover, a bolt extending therethrough, and anut threaded on the bolt, of a locking member comprising a body portionembracing the under face of the nut, lateral wings embracing oppositesides of the nut, and arms embracing the remaining sides of the nut,extending beyond the face thereof and terminating in horizontallyextending portions, wings extending downwardly and outwardly from saidarms, a cap having an internal shoulder, with which the wings cooperate,and an opening giving access to the locking member, and a sealing devicefor such opening, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

6. The combination with a cover, a bolt extending therethrough, and anut threaded on the bolt, of a locking member comprising arms embracingthe opposite sides of the nut, extending beyond the face thereof andterminating in horizontally extending portions, wings extendingdownwardly and outwardly from said arms, a cap having an internalshoulder, with which the wings cooperate, and an opening giving accessto the locking member, and a sealing device having a stem cooperatingwith the horizontal portions of the arms for holding the latter separated, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

7 The combination with a cover, a bolt extending therethrough, and a nutthreaded on the bolt, of a locking member comprising arms embracingopposite sides of the nut and terminating in horizontally extendingportions, wings extending downwardly and outwardly from said arms, a caphaving an internal shoulder with which the wings cooperate, and anopening giving access to the locking member, and a sealing device forsuch opening, having a stem cooperating with the horizontal portions ofthe arms for holding the latter separated, a flange disposed between thesaid horizontal portions of the locking member and the cap, and a partprojecting into the opening in the cap, substantially as and for thepurpose described.

8. The combination with a cover, a bolt extending therethrough, and anut threaded on the bolt, of a locking member engaging the nut andcomprising arms provided with horizontally extending portions disposedout of alinement with each other, and also provided with downwardly andoutwardly extending Wings, a cap inclosing the locking member having ashoulder cooperating with the wings thereof, and an opening givingaccess to the locking member, and a sealing Copies of this patent may beobtained for wardly extending edge flange and with anaxially dependingstem, the side wall of the cup-shaped part being separated from thestem, and being formed of fragile material,

substantially as and for the purpose described.

11. In combination, a cap having an internal shoulder and an openinggiving access to its interior, a locking member located within the capand having a part cooperating with the shoulder thereof, and adest-ructible member closing said opening, substantially as and for thepurpose specified.

12. In a protecting device the combination with a part to be protected,a locking member engaging such part, a cap inclosing said part andlocking member, and provided with an opening for permitting accessthereto, and with a part cooperating with the locking member forretaining the cap in position, and sealing means associated with the capfor closing the opening therein.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name in the presence oftwo attesting witnesses, at Syracuse, in the county of Onondaga, in theState of New York this 11th day of Aug, 1910.

MATTHEW G. KENNEDY.

Witnesses:

S. DAVIS, F. B. SMITH.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington,D. C.

